XBRL provides a standard for allowing business data to be exchanged among different computer systems and software applications. XBRL is based upon the extensible Markup Language (XML) and has been developed by a consortium of companies and organizations worldwide (such as accounting firms, trade organizations, software vendors, financial institutions and governments). XBRL provides a basis for users to “tag” or “mark up” data within business documents with standardized classifications or definitions which span a multitude of industry reporting and accounting standards and allow a variety of software applications to understand the meaning and context of the information. As just one example of the use of XBRL, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently begun a pilot program in which the filing of SEC reports in XBRL is encouraged.
As summarized on the XBRL International website:
“The idea behind XBRL is simple. Instead of treating business information as a block of text—as in a standard internet page or a printed document—it provides an identifying tag for each individual item of data. This is computer readable. For example, company net profit has its own unique tag.
The introduction of XBRL tags enables automated processing of business information by computer software, cutting out laborious and costly processes of manual re-entry and comparison. Computers can treat XBRL data “intelligently”: they can recognize the information in a XBRL document, select it, analyze it, store it, exchange it with other computers and present it automatically in a variety of ways for users. XBRL greatly increases the speed of handling of financial data, reduces the chance of error and permits automatic checking of information.
Companies can use XBRL to save costs and streamline their processes for collecting and reporting financial information. Consumers of financial data, including investors, analysts, financial institutions and regulators, can receive, find, compare and analyze data much more rapidly and efficiently if it is in XBRL format.
XBRL can handle data in different languages and accounting standards. It can flexibly be adapted to meet different requirements and uses. Data can be transformed into XBRL by suitable mapping tools or it can be generated in XBRL by appropriate software.”
While the foregoing quote from the XBRL Web-site notes a number of benefits associated with the association of XBRL attributes with data in a business document (which is also known as “tagging”), the accountants and other individuals that generate the business documents for which XBRL tagging is appropriate typically have to associate tagging information with data in their business documents via text/XML editing tools, such as “Microsoft Notepad,” or by using complex XBRL-based stand-alone applications that require user to copy/paste, re-key or import data before being able to convert to XBRL.
Consequently, there is a need for tools that allow individuals that generate business documents to associate XBRL attributes with data or locations in their documents that avoids the tagging of information manually via tools like text/XML editors or by using XBRL-based stand-alone applications that are typically difficult for many of the individuals that generate business documents to learn and/or use.